LOU Macari believes Tranmere Rovers' 6-0 defeat at Plymouth last Saturday effectively cost him his invitation to become the new manager at Prenton Park.

LOU Macari believes Tranmere Rovers' 6-0 defeat at Plymouth last Saturday effectively cost him his invitation to become the new manager at Prenton Park.

The former Stoke and Huddersfield boss claims he was offered the post by the Tranmere board of directors last week. He was keen to accept - subject to resolving a couple of issues about his contract on the advice of the League Managers Association.

Macari was confident those issues could have been sorted out by the early part of this week but reckons Rovers' thumping defeat at Home Park created the conditions of urgency that led to the appointment of Brian Little last weekend.

Macari said: "Unfortunately for me the result at Plymouth speeded things up from Tranmere's point of view. After losing 6-0 they wanted a new manager to be in place first thing on Monday morning. I could not be that man because I had not sorted out the problems the League Managers Association advised me about."

Little, like Macari a vastly experienced boss, was contacted by Tranmere on Saturday night, appointed on Sunday and began work on Monday morning.

Rovers chairman Lorraine Rogers claimed on Wednesday that Little was the unanimous choice of the board.

She said: "It's obvious why people - especially if they are out of work - would want to be associated with a job like this."

But Macari insisted he was offered the job earlier. He said: "I had two interviews with the board and was quite happy with everything. Then I got a call to say I could be the next manager of Tranmere Rovers. That's when things started to go a little bit wrong.

"I was content with the terms of the contract but when I looked at the conditions there were a couple of things that, from my point of view, did not sound right.

"So I gave it to the LMA whose job is to overlook these contracts.

"They were not happy and did not think it was right that I signed that particular contract.

"Had Tranmere won down at Plymouth there would not have been any great urgency in getting me or anyone else in and I would probably have been given 24 to 48 hours to sort out the contract.

"But it wasn't to be and that's football. There are no hard feelings. I fully understood Tranmere's desire to get someone in as quickly as possible."

Macari said he would not discuss details of the contract conditions that caused the delay.

He said: "I have got to look on the bright side. If you take a job and don't make sure the contract is secure you are going to regret it one day, anyhow."

* Defender Graham Allen is to face an FA disciplinary hearing into his conduct during Tranmere's 2-0 defeat by Bristol City last month.

Allen, dismissed for two bookable offences at Ashton Gate, has already served an automatic one-match ban but could be in for further punishment for the heated remarks he made to referee Stephen Tomlin after being given his marching orders.